HAGANE
( Hagane - The Final Conflict )
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鋼
©1994 Hudson Soft
©1994 Red
Release: 1994-11-18 (¥9500)
Cartridge SHVC-AHGJ-JPN
Action / Platform game
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Released in America as
HAGANE - THE FINAL CONFLICT
( SNS-AHGE-USA )
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Released in Europe as
HAGANE - THE FINAL CONFLICT
( SNSP-AHGP-XXX )
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Hagane is an intense ninja-action platform game developed by Red
and published by Hudson Soft. The game takes place in a futuristic
steam-punk world distinctly themed on Feudal Japan. The Koma clan has plotted to turn
the world into dust and their army is now ready to launch a scathing attack. The Fuma
clan was severely defeated by the invader, but a wounded warrior survived the fierce
assault - Hagane (meaning "steel") used to be human, but he was turned
into a machine by the old priest Momochi in order to survive his fatal condition.
Now encased in a cyborg shell, his ninja skills and spiritual powers are humanity's last
hope. Hagane can run, jump and do forward and backward flips. He comes equipped with
an arsenal of weapons - the short range Katana sword and the throwing chain
can be both used at will (the latter is especially useful to grapple onto ceilings and
walls, and to climb to higher grounds), whereas the explosives and Suzaku Shurikens
come in limited quantities and must be replenished periodically. A limited special attack
can also be unleashed to clean surrounding enemies in the blink of an eye. Hagane can
use a vast array of special moves - shoulder buttons activate forward and backward flips,
but pressing Y or B while charging these flips triggers special attacks, such
as a flaming kick or a powerful flaming dragon punch. He can also jump and
dash in the air - this last move is at the core of the gameplay and allows the mechanical
ninja to escape many of the challenges the Koma clan throws at him. Hagane
consists of five large areas, each divided into several sub-stages and featuring multiple
mini-bosses.
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Teaser text from the American version:
Only one man alone stands to
save the world from the
Koma-clan and their plan to
destroy the world. His name was
"HAGANE". The lone survivor of
the Fuma-clan, which was
massacred by the Koma-clan. Brought
back from the fringe of death and given a
cyborg body, "HAGANE" swears
vengeance against the Koma-clan.
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Game Staff (Copied from the American version's end credits) :
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HAGANE STAFF
Character Design
Keita Amemiya
Game Design
Osamu Tsujikawa
Main Program
Izumi Fukuda
Sub Program
Takashi Iwanaga
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Graphic Design
Fumimaro Ayanokozi
Kikuo Hanami
Chaos
Carry Kun
Music
Takahito Abe
Sound Effects
Hudson Soft Team
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Special thanks
Kirara
Director
Kappa Yuzawa
Producer
Masanori Wake
Hatamoto Taikusuotoko
Mitsuhiro Kadowaki
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Executive Producer
Tadahiro Nakano
Created by
CA Production
Presented by
Red
Hudson Soft
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Hagane somehow slipped though the cracks of popularity. I mean, come on !
A game featuring Ninjas and a Post Apocalyptic steam-punk world can
only be good ! Right ? And Hagane is damn good. The graphics are magnificent, the
animation is outstanding and the level design is jaw dropping. My only concern about
Hagane is its punitive difficulty level - there is not much of a learning curve,
the player is left from the start to face his terrifying destiny, and deaths are fast and many.
Although you may be
able to complete the first area without much difficulty (still is a tough nut to crack though),
the other areas forward are really unforgiving.
The key, I think, is to master all the special
moves and their timing - the jump/dash combination is a key element in successfully tackling
some of the challenges. All of this makes of Hagane a really hard experience at
first - but past this frustration, it reveals itself as a delightful game, and is certainly
a work of considerable aesthetic success, with beautifully laid out stages and imaginative
enemies and bosses. The screenshots seen here aren't very representative of all the visual
fireworks the game throws at the screen. A truly magnificent, yet difficult game.
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